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A growing sense of indecision as Brandon Weeden faced NFL defenses during the second half of the 2012 Browns season remains the area in which the team's second-year QB needs to show rapid improvement.
(Photo by Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Anyone who watched Brandon Weeden closely last season should not be surprised that a teammate would claim he struggled to read defenses.

NFL Network's Steve Wyche -- as detailed by Mary Kay Cabot today -- has reported that Browns running back Trent Richardson told him Weeden "really had trouble reading defenses from time to time and they had to skew their offense a little bit, sometimes somewhat predictable."

Richardson, the third pick in the 2012 draft, spoke the truth about his quarterback, the 22nd pick. Weeden did, indeed, have trouble diagnosing coverages during a rocky rookie season.

As author of the Browns QB Report Card for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com, I watched every Weeden dropback at least three times from a DVR of the game telecast. I did not see a quarterback who seemed to grasp what the defense was trying to do -- especially in the second half of the year, when even incremental improvement could be expected.

But I didn't play quarterback in the NFL, and recognize it is arguably the most demanding position in pro team sports. So I made sure to listen intently to the analysts, former NFL players and coaches who know the game inside and out, to find out if my eyes were lying.

They weren't.

The most telling of all the assessments of Weeden's mental game came from Rich Gannon, who threw for 28,743 yards in his NFL career and was MVP in 2002. Gannon was none too pleased with Weeden during a Week 9 loss to the Ravens in Cleveland. Weeden finished 20-of-37 for 176 yards and two interceptions in a 25-15 loss.

View full sizeWill Brandon Weedenâs mental game improve? Will he be able to silence the critics who say he is a baseball player playing football, thereby lacking the necessary instinct and feel for the latter?John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer

Early in the contest, Gannon said: "He's late moving through his progressions, which makes him late to his outlet, which is the back. He's got to play faster, he's got to see things. The game has not slowed down. He talks about it being slow, but, you see him right now. He's missed some open receivers. ... You've got to be able to throw [receivers] open sometimes. Weeden's got to play better."

Early in the third quarter, the Browns had a second-and-3 at the Baltimore 44. Weeden threw over the middle intended for tight end Jordan Cameron at the 20. Ravens safety Ed Reed nearly intercepted. Gannon fumed as CBS went to a sky view that showed receiver Josh Gordon open in the middle at the 40, with room to run.

Gannon said: "I'm not going to pick on the quarterback, but look, this is just getting to be ridiculous. [Gordon] is wide open. And you can't throw the ball down here, where they've got extra defenders. Ed Reed should have picked that one off."

There was more, but you get the idea: Gannon didn't like what he was seeing. This wasn't Week 1 against the Eagles, when a chunk of Weeden's awful performance could be attributed to debut jitters. This was Week 9, against a team he already had seen. (As it turned out, Weeden played much better against a healthier Ravens defense in Week 4.)

Another glaring example was Week 15 against Washington. Weeden was thoroughly outplayed by Redskins backup Kirk Cousins, in part because he failed to solve the riddles of coordinator Jim Haslett's defense.

So the question is not whether Weeden had problems reading defenses, but why?

Part of it had to do with being a rookie, no question. Rookie QBs are supposed to be overwhelmed by the amount of data flowing through their heads and helmets. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson all periodically fell victim last year.

Part of it had to do with the system, and the coaching that does or does not come with it. Weeden and his skill set clearly were not comfortable in this particular version of the West Coast offense. To believe T-Rich, former head coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress were forced to scale back what they wanted to do because Weeden wasn't getting it, and because he was vulnerable to interceptions.

Part had to do with defenses making an adjustment. In most of his first eight games, Weeden faced a steady flow of blitzes and handled them reasonably well, all things considered. Among the reasons: quick release and good offensive line.

Beginning in Week 9, however, defenses dropped more linebackers into coverage and faked more blitzes from the safeties and corners. They did not have as many rushers, on average, at the time the pass was made. Ravens coordinator Dean Pees established the blueprint after Week 4, when Weeden threw for 320 yards even with multiple dropped passes.

Once coordinators challenged Weeden to throw into tighter windows, he never really responded. He kept hesitating and double-pumping, then checking down.

And part of it had to do with the player. Only Weeden and a handful of others truly know if it was the biggest part. He consistently was late getting his team to the line -- coaches were culpable, too -- thereby severely reducing Weeden's ability to gauge what defenses were doing.

When he did get to the line in plenty of time, he rarely seemed to recognize where pressure was coming from, as pointed out by Gannon and other analysts. Weeden rarely, if ever, audibled. Upon taking the snaps, he did not trust himself enough to throw into tight windows or throw receivers open, especially in the middle of the field.

Will Weeden's mental game improve? Will he be able to silence the critics who say he is a baseball player playing football, thereby lacking the necessary instinct and feel for the latter?

I now have my doubts. But at least Weeden has a new coach (Rob Chudzinski), offensive coordinator (Norv Turner) and system (vertical/power) that figure to better suit him; combined with the natural growth of a player from year one to year two; combined with an offensive line that knows how to pass block.

If it doesn't happen quickly under Chudzinski and Turner, it probably is not going to happen at all.

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